Big Sister
by bluejwrtr
Summary: Mild Season Seven spoilers. Lance's first hero was his big sister, Veronica. This is a series of one-shots focused on the relationship between Lance and Veronica, mostly from Veronica's POV. New chapter: Veronica deals with the aftermath of the battle in the season 7 finale.
1. Growing Up

**A/N: Welcome to my new story! I was so impressed by season seven that I just had to write something, and this is what came out. It's much fluffier than anything else I've written, but hopefully that's not such a terrible thing.**

 **Also, there will be some mild spoilers for season seven, and probably bigger ones in later chapters. If you haven't watched it yet, I hope you do, because it's awesome.**

The first time Veronica saw Lance, she thought he was super ugly. And he was a boy. She'd wanted a little sister, not another brother.

Her grandmother ushered her further into the room, and her mom looked up with a big grin. "Isn't he so precious?"

Veronica looked at the baby doubtfully. He was red-faced and wrinkly, and really tiny. She didn't remember Marco and Luis being this ugly.

"Would you like to hold him, Veronica?" her mom asked. "You're old enough now." She shifted the baby in her arms, and he let out a little squeak even though his eyes were still tightly closed.

Veronica remembered how they hadn't let her hold her other brothers, always telling her that she was too little. That had made her mad, but now she wasn't sure if she wanted to hold this one. What if she hurt him by accident?

"Come on, mija, you can do it," said her grandmother, giving her a nudge. "Just remember to support his head."

"Okay," Veronica said, biting her lip. Her mother held out the baby, and she took him gingerly. The blanket was soft, and he was so light. A little hand poked out of the blankets. She touched it gently and the baby wrapped his fingers around one of hers. Veronica felt her heart turn to mush. Maybe he wasn't so ugly after all. "Hi, Lance. I'm your big sister."

He opened his eyes a tiny bit and she saw that they were blue, just like hers. Marco and Luis had brown eyes like their papa. Veronica smiled. Maybe she could handle having another little brother, after all.

* * *

Four years later, Veronica was getting ready to leave to go to school at the Garrison. She was packing up her tiny bedroom so that Marco could move in and give all of the boys some much needed space.

She was just closing the last box when little footsteps came behind her and she felt tiny arms gripping her legs. She turned to see big blue eyes looking up at her. Veronica sighed.

"Do you have to leave, Roni?" said Lance.

Veronica knelt down so she could look her littlest brother in the eye. "I wish I didn't have to leave you, Lance, but the Garrison is a boarding school."

He wrinkled his nose. "A boring school? Why'd you wanna go there?"

"No, _boarding_ school. It means I live there with the other kids instead of coming home every day like my old school."

Lance still looked confused. "Why do you wanna live with other kids instead of _me_?"

She hugged him. "I'd much rather live with you, but I need to go to this school so I can learn how to protect people. The Garrison protects everybody from the bad guys, and I want to be like them."

He pouted. "You already protect me from bad guys. Like Marco when he got mad at me for spilling juice on his shirt."

"Marco's not a bad guy," she explained gently. "But there's real bad guys out there, and that's why we have the Garrison."

Lance looked away from her, tears welling up in his eyes. "Kay. But I'm gonna miss you. Marco's no good at bedtime stories."

She hugged him one more time, getting a little teary herself. "I'll miss you too, hermanito."

Lance pulled away suddenly with a bright smile on his face. "I know! When I get big, I'll go to the Garrison, too! We can fight the bad guys together!"

Veronica chuckled. "Whatever you say, little guy."

* * *

Veronica hugged her pillow as she looked at a picture of her family that sat on her nightstand. She'd been at the Garrison at a couple months, and most of the time it was a lot of fun. She was learning so much, but every once and a while she got this pit in her stomach and she just wanted to go home. It didn't help that her roommate lived close enough to the Garrison that she got to go home every weekend. Veronica wished she could do that, but her family was just too far away and plane tickets were too expensive.

Her phone buzzed. Veronica picked it up and saw that it was Lance wanting to video chat. She smiled. The little guy had been so sad after she'd left that their parents let him call her every few days. If she was being honest, it probably helped her even more than it did him.

His cute little face popped up on the screen with a toothy smile. "Hey, Roni! You'll never believe what I did today!" He picked up a paper airplane and showed it to her proudly. "I made the best paper airplane ever!"

Veronica smiled. "Wow, that looks great. It reminds me of some of the planes we have here."

Lance bounced in his chair, blurring the video. "Awesome! Do you get to fly the planes, Roni?"

She shook her head. "I'm not training to be a pilot. I want to be a communications officer."

He frowned. "That sounds boring."

"It is not!" Veronica protested. "Communications officers are very important. Without them, pilots would all just crash into each other."

"Well, I wanna be a pilot!" Lance bounced again. "So that way you can come and keep me from crashing." He held up his plane again and said in his even higher-pitched make-believe voice, "Roni, Roni! I'm gonna crash into a big mountain! Oh, no!" He held up his free hand and flew his plane towards it.

Veronica played along. "Pull up, Lance! Pull up!"

Lance flew the plane over his hand and smiled. "Yay! You're the best comcashun officer ever!"

Veronica laughed. "And you're the best pilot. They're gonna call you the Tailor, because of how well you can thread the needle."

Lance looked confused, but he cheered anyway. "Yeah!"

* * *

On her first morning home for summer vacation, Veronica was woken at an unholy hour by a skinny five-year-old wearing swim trunks. "Roni, Roni, Roni! You're home!" Lance had already been asleep when she'd arrived the night before. "Let's go swimming!" He jumped on her bed, digging his bony knees into her legs and shaking her shoulder.

Veronica groaned. "Lance? What time is it?" She buried her head in her pillow.

"Time to go swimming!"

She squinted at the window. "Is the sun even up yet?"

"Mostly." Lance pouted at her. "You said we could go swimming when you got home!"

"Mmm." Veronica rubbed her eyes. "Can't it wait until later? I'm pretty jet lagged."

"But you _promised_ ," Lance whined. "And I haven't gone swimming in _ages_!"

She raised an eyebrow. "Because you got in trouble for running away from Mom last time."

"But Mom said I could go with you, since you'll only be home for a little while." Lance hugged her tightly around the neck. "Please, Roni?"

Veronica pulled his arms away so he wouldn't choke her. "Let's compromise, okay? You let me sleep for two more hours, and _then_ we'll go swimming."

She was expecting more whining, but instead Lance brightened up. "I know! I'll make you the bestest breakfast ever!"

"Whatever," Veronica yawned. She rolled over and heard Lance scramble out the door before she fell back asleep.

* * *

She woke up to the smell of something burning. Veronica's eyes shot open and she jumped out of bed. She pictured Lance standing in the middle of a burning kitchen, but when she reached the kitchen Lance was nowhere to be seen. On the stove was a pan of something that was unrecognizably burnt. Veronica turned off the burner and looked around. "Lance?"

The front door opened and Lance barrelled in, holding a bunch of bananas. His eyes widened when he saw the pan of burning mess. "Oh, no!"

"Lance, don't you know not to leave something on the stove when it's on?" said Veronica. "And why were you out all alone?"

Lance's eyes filled with tears. "I'm sorry, Roni! I 'membered how much you like bananas, and so I needed to get some. I forgot about the pancakes." He came over and hugged her tightly around the legs.

She sighed. She just couldn't stay mad at this kid. "Just don't do it again. Next time, make sure you ask Mom before you go off like that." Her mom had mentioned that Lance had been running off unexpectedly a lot lately. She'd been glad to have Veronica home to keep an eye on him, but apparently she'd already failed at that.

She pointed to the kitchen table. "Sit down, Lance. I think we need to have a talk."

His eyes widened. "Am I in trouble?"

"No. I just need to make sure you understand something."

They both sat down at the table, Lance fidgeting in his seat. Veronica took a deep breath. "Lance, do you know why it scares Mom so much when you run off?" He shrugged and looked down, uncharacteristically quiet.

"It's because bad things can happen when you go off by yourself. You could get hurt, and no one would be there to help you. Mom just wants you to be safe."

"Oh." Lance frowned. "But what if I get bored?"

Veronica leaned over and ruffled his hair. "It's not going to kill you to be bored. Besides, sometimes the most fun things are the things you make up in your own head."

Lance perked up. "Like make-believe?"

"Exactly. You can do that just fine without running off. Just imagine whatever you need."

"Okay." Lance rubbed his finger along the table. "Roni?"

"Yeah?"

"How long will it be before I'm big enough to go to the Garrison with you?"

"Well, you have to be twelve, so you still have seven years."

His eyes widened in horror. " _Seven years_! That's like forever! You'll be all growed up by then!"

Veronica nodded. "Yeah, I will. But you know what, Lance? I'll make you a promise."

"A pinky promise?"

Veronica held out her pinky, and Lance wrapped his own around it. "I promise that after I graduate, I'll do my best to be stationed at the Garrison so that I'll be there when you're old enough to be a cadet."

"Really? Even if they ask you to go somewhere really, really cool?"

"Well, I don't always get to choose," she conceded. "But if I do, I'll do my best to stay near you." In the back of her mind, she worried that Lance wouldn't even make it into the Garrison. But thankfully, that was many years away.

Lance came around the table and hugged her. "I love you."

"Me too, hermanito." She smiled down at him. "Now, who wants to go swimming?"

* * *

Years passed. Veronica became more and more involved at the Garrison. Soon, she was one of their top cadets, and she was asked to remain there during the summer months for additional training. Her parents were very proud of her, but she felt her brothers becoming more and more distant. By her third year, Lance had stopped calling her so often. She was lucky to hear from him once a month, and he seemed less enthusiastic about it each time. She worried that he was forgetting her, since he'd been so young when she left. So she asked for special permission to go home for his eighth birthday. She'd told her parents about her worries, so they were quite happy to help her pay for the plane tickets.

When she arrived at home, Lance's birthday party had already started. Family members were entering and exiting the house, and kids were running around playing soccer in the backyard. Veronica heard a familiar whoop and watched as Lance kicked a soccer ball into an improvised net. He threw up his arms and grinned. Then he saw her by the door.

Before she knew it, she was getting tackled to the ground. "Roni! I can't believe you came!" Lance squealed. "This is the best birthday ever!"

She ruffled his hair. "You haven't even seen my present yet."

He rolled off her, looking like his face was about to split in two from smiling so widely. "I thought you were the present?" He helped her up and she gave him a hug.

"Well, it's nothing big, but I think you'll like it." She went and grabbed her luggage, pulling a small wrapped box out of her suitcase. Lance followed her, apparently having lost interest in anything else. She couldn't help but feel flattered.

"Can I open it now?" Lance asked. "Mom told me to wait for the other ones."

"I think you can make an exception for this one." Veronica watched as he unwrapped a small model plane, based on the ones cadets flew at the Garrison.

Lance took it out of the box carefully, almost reverently. "This is amazing," he said in a hushed voice. Then he grinned at her. "Guess what?"

"What?"

"Only four years left until I can apply to the Garrison and become the best pilot ever!"

Veronica felt warm inside. He really hadn't forgotten. "Well, to do that you'd better keep up with your homework. Getting in isn't easy, you know."

His face fell. "Really, homework? Shouldn't I be working on my piloting skills or something instead?"

She laughed. "Good luck getting Mom to let you do that."

He made a face. "Yeah, that wouldn't go down very well." He looked back at the model plane. "Well, I can pretend, at least." He pulled out the plane and made whooshing noises. "Watch out, team, it's going to be a bumpy ride!" he said as he moved it up and down.

"You're going to make your whole crew airsick if you fly like that," she said, steering him back inside as he kept his attention on the plane.

"I'll just have to find a crew that has iron stomachs," Lance said confidently.

"Good luck with that," she said, patting him on the back. She watched as he went over to the other kids to show off his new toy. It was nice to see that no matter how long she was gone, he was still the same Lance.

* * *

Veronica paced back and forth, staring at her phone. Any minute now, she'd be getting a call about her first assignment. She would be graduating from the Garrison Academy in a couple of weeks, and then she'd be shipped off wherever they decided to send her.

The phone buzzed, and she jumped for it, only to see that it was Lance on the phone. She growled in frustration and but managed a smile as she answered the video call.

"Hey, Roni!" Lance said cheerfully. "Have you heard yet?"

"No," she sighed. "Look, can you call back later? They're supposed to call me any moment."

"Right, sorry," said Lance sheepishly.

Veronica softened. "I'll call you as soon as I hear, okay?"

He nodded and ended the call. Veronica resumed her pacing. She wasn't surprised that Lance had called her. He was just as excited to learn about her assignment as she was. She remembered the promise she'd made him all those years ago and smiled ruefully. She hadn't realized then just how little control she would have over where she was assigned. But it might not matter anyway. It was getting more and more difficult to get into the Garrison, and Lance might not make it. In some ways, that might be a relief. With his happy-go-lucky personality, he might not fit in well here. She worried that becoming a soldier would be hard on him. But in the end, the decision wouldn't be in her hands.

The phone rang, and she jumped to answer it. Her hands shook slightly as the voice on the other end told her she would be assigned to work with Takashi Shirogane as a recruiter. Veronica stammered that yes, she did accept the assignment, and she listened as they gave her the rest of the details. When the call was over, she took a moment to process. She'd never guessed that they would make her a recruiter. But then, she had heard that they liked to use young officers as recruiters before grooming them for leadership positions. That made sense. She'd heard of Shirogane, even though he was in the class above her. He was some sort of hotshot pilot. Maybe they were put together in order to prepare for later missions?

Veronica shook her head. It didn't really matter. What worried her the most was that she would be working with hundreds of kids just like Lance. Did she really want to be the one responsible for crushing dreams like his? She steeled herself. She could do this. She was a soldier, and this would be nothing compared to some of the combat situations that her former classmates would be facing.

She put on a smile and prepared for a video call with her whole family. In the end, they would be proud of her, no matter what.

* * *

It was the end of a very long day full of over excited children and teachers eager to promote their best students. Veronica sat in the passenger seat next to Shiro, who was driving.

"I don't know if I can keep doing this," she admitted to him.

He glanced at her. "This is about your little brother, isn't it?"

She'd told him about her family several times. "Maybe. I just hate having to decide for all of these kids. I mean really, how are we supposed to know who would make the best Garrison officers? Tests only show you so much. Character is what really matters in the end."

Shiro chuckled. "Yeah, I can see why you're getting burnt out, then."

"How do you do it?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I rely on my instincts and do my best. That's all we can do."

She sighed. "I guess I think too much."

They rode in silence for a little bit, then Shiro spoke up. "Maybe you should ask for a transfer. I won't be offended, I promise."

Veronica thought about it. Asking for a transfer wouldn't look good on her record, but neither would washing out because she couldn't handle the stress. "Maybe I will." She bit her lip. "But promise me something. If you meet a spunky little kid named Lance, don't overlook him."

Shiro laughed. "If he's anything like you, that will be difficult."

* * *

Veronica got her transfer. She was now working as an administrative assistant at the central Garrison base. It was a bit of a downgrade from recruiting, but she was confident that she could work her way back up.

She still kept in contact with Shiro, though. He was going to be transferred back to the Garrison as a pilot soon, but it looked like he might stay in recruiting just long enough to be the one to evaluate Lance's class.

Of course, she heard about it from Lance long before she heard about it from Shiro. He was practically back to his five-year-old self, bouncing around so much that the video call was constantly blurry. "I think I made it!" he crowed. "I got to level four on the simulator, way better than anyone else."

Veronica smiled. "That is pretty good, Lance." She secretly worried, however, that it wouldn't be enough. Level four was pretty good, but the simulator tests were just a tiny part of the decision. "How about your grades?"

His smile faltered a little bit. "Well, not super great. But I've been trying really hard, I promise."

Veronica sighed. "Lance, you know there's a chance you might not make it, right?"

"Sure, but I just know I will! I have to! I'm obviously cut out to be a fighter pilot." He struck a pose that looked pretty ridiculous with his skinny body.

She winced a little, but tried not to show it. If he showed too much interest in just one thing, that could hurt his chances."Is that really the only thing you're interested in? There's plenty of other options."

"I told them fighter pilot or nothing else," Lance said. Veronica rubbed at her temples. What should she tell him? That he had hardly any chance? Or just let him be crushed when he found out himself?

She decided to talk to Shiro first, then figure out how to break it to Lance. She met the recruiter just as he arrived from his latest trip. He looked tired, but she wanted to make sure and catch him before it was too late.

"Hey, Shiro. Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Shiro gave her a tired smile. "Sure. What's up?"

"It's about my brother, Lance. I heard you visited his class earlier this week. I wanted to hear what you thought."

Shiro looked a little uncomfortable. "You know I'm not really supposed to talk about that with you."

"I know," said Veronica with a sigh. "It's just that I know he doesn't have much of a chance, but I'm not sure how to break that to him. He's been looking forward to going to the Garrison since he was tiny. Well, tinier."

Shiro thought for a moment. "Okay. I can't tell you if he's been accepted or not, but I can give you some advice. Let me be the bad guy, okay? This isn't your job anymore, and it's not your responsibility to tell Lance if he made it or not. Just support him, no matter what the decision is."

Veronica deflated a little. He was right. "Thanks, Shiro."

He grinned at her. "You're lucky, actually. This was my last recruiting trip. I'm going back to piloting next week."

"Congratulations," she replied, trying to sound happy for him. She was, but she was still worried about Lance.

Shiro went to head down a different hallway, but before he did, he turned to Veronica and said, "Your brother's quite the kid. He takes enthusiasm to a whole new level."

Veronica smiled. "He sure does."

* * *

After much deliberation, Veronica decided to fly home so that she could be there when Lance found out if he was accepted. It had been a long time, and she knew how important this was for him. Part of her was terrified of how crushed Lance would be if he wouldn't make it. But she had to be there to support him, either way.

When she got home, Lance was nowhere to be found. Her mom said that he'd gone swimming about an hour ago. "And you know how much that boy loves the water," she added.

Veronica did know. Swimming was one of Lance's favorite pastimes, but also one of his primary coping methods. She'd suggested a swim more than once when he'd called her upset about something or other. Now that he was nearly twelve, their mom let him swim on his own, although he'd been doing it without permission since he was five.

She changed into her swimsuit and headed down to the beach. It didn't take long before she spotted a skinny figure sitting on a rock that protruded from the water about a hundred feet from the beach. So this was a stress-related swim, then.

Veronica set out for the rock and pulled herself onto it, settling wetly next to her brother. He was staring off at the horizon with a frown line on his forehead, and apparently hadn't noticed her yet. Veronica gave him a little push, and he tumbled with a squawk into the water. When he surfaced, he glared at her.

"Roni," he whined. "What was that for?"

"Because I came a long way to get here, and you didn't even say hi."

Lance spat water out of his mouth and climbed back onto the rock. "Hi," he said moodily.

Veronica punched him playfully. "Don't tell me you're becoming an angst-ridden teenager already."

"Am not," Lance said, glancing at her. "I just don't feel like talking to anybody right now."

"I know you're stressed. I just thought you might like some company."

"Thanks," he said, returning his gaze to the horizon. Veronica let him sulk, taking the opportunity to contemplate how much her little brother had grown since the last time she'd been here. He'd always been small for his age, but he was already starting to show signs of impending growth spurts. Veronica put her foot next to his to compare. His foot was already bigger than hers.

She whistled. "You're going to be tall, hermanito."

Lance looked down. "You think?"

"Either that or you'll have clown feet for the rest of your life."

He made a face. "No thanks. I can't see the ladies falling for a guy with clown feet."

"A short guy with clown feet. And an adorable cowlick," she said, fluffing said cowlick into wet spikes.

"Stop it," Lance whined, even though a little smile was creeping onto his face. He suddenly leaned up against her, and Veronica had to struggle to keep her balance on the precarious rock. "Thanks for coming."

"You'd better not spend the whole time I'm here sulking in the ocean."

He rolled his eyes. "That all depends if I made it or not. If I didn't, I might just turn into a seal or something and stay in the ocean forever."

"You _would_ make a really cute seal."

Lance huffed and looked up at her. "You would be disappointed in me though, right?"

She shrugged. "I'd be a little sad, but I know you tried your best. And I know you'll be great at whatever else you might decide to do. Including being a full-time seal."

Lance did laugh at that, and Veronica considered her mission a success.

* * *

The next day was _the_ day. The entire family was tense, but Lance had become strangely relaxed. Veronica watched him having a burping contest with Marco and Luis, a little puzzled. Then they were all beaten out by Marco's new girlfriend, and all of them collapsed into laughter. Until the doorbell rang. Everyone was instantly silent, a rare feat for their family.

"I'll get it," Veronica said, as she was closest to the door. The mailman handed her a large white envelope, identical to the one she'd received eight years ago. Veronica carried it back to the kitchen and handed it to Lance, whose eyes were wide. With shaking hands, he opened the envelope. He pulled out a paper and read it, going pale.

"What does it say, mijo?" their mom asked impatiently.

Lance looked like he was about to pass out. So much for taking it well. Veronica braced for inevitable tears. But then Lance grinned and threw his hands into the air.

"I made it! They accepted me!" He turned to Veronica. "Boy, am I going to become your worst nightmare at the Garrison!"


	2. The Bet

**A/N: In case anyone is wondering, I totally guessed at Veronica's age. If I'm being honest, I made her eight years older than Lance mostly because that's the age gap between me and my youngest brother. But later I realized that she'd be about the same age as Shiro, which fits with her rank and the way she interacts with the MFE pilots.**

 **The phrases in italics are text messages, in case that's confusing.**

Even after Lance came to the Garrison, he and Veronica kept in contact mostly through calls or texting. Both of them had very busy schedules in different parts of the Garrison that kept them from meeting in person very often. But that didn't stop Lance from texting her about every little thing that he thought was cool during his first few weeks.

One day during her lunch break, Veronica checked her phone and saw that she had several texts from Lance.

 _L: Did you know we have a shooting range?!_

 _L: Seriously! And it has LASER GUNS! Real ones!_

 _L: Cadets can use it with adult supervision. You're an adult right?_

Veronica shook her head. She could see where this was going. She kept reading.

 _L: Please? Pretty pretty pretty please?_

 _L: I will literally explode if you don't. And then Iverson would chase you down to clean up the mess._

 _L: Explosion imminent in 10, 9, 8…._

Veronica chuckled and typed out her answer.

 _V: Hold your horses. I have a day off on Saturday. Meet you there at 8?_

 _L: In the morning?_

 _V: Yeah, sleepyhead. Got to beat the rush._

 _L: You are officially the best sister ever._

* * *

Lance really did look hyper enough to explode when Veronica met him outside the shooting range that Saturday. He was bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. When he spotted her, he practically tackled her in a hug.

"You have no idea how awesome this is! Did you know they keep score?" Lance pointed to a screen near the entrance that showed a list of names.

"I have been here before, you know," Veronica said. She'd actually only been once on a bad date, but Lance didn't need to know that.

"How did you not tell me about it?" Lance shook his head, then grabbed her hand and began pulling her in. "Come on, let's do this!"

Veronica had to show her ID before the officer in charge would let them touch the guns. Then he gave them a long talk about safety, during which Lance just stared at the gun in his hands. When the officer finally let them go, Veronica steered him towards the small computer than controlled the targets. She showed Lance how to insert the identifying chip from his gun and choose the target and distance that he wanted, then did it for herself.

"I didn't know you liked shooting so much," Veronica asked. Their father had been in the military a long time ago, and he made sure all his children knew how to use a gun. But she'd never been all that interested in it herself.

Lance smiled as he lined up his first shot. "Back home, they call me the Sharpshooter."

"Right," Veronica said skeptically. She watched as Lance took a breath and pulled the trigger. She squinted at the target and was surprised to see that he'd hit the bullseye.

Lance smirked. "Told you. Your turn."

Veronica rolled her eyes and got ready for her own shot. She hit the target several inches away from the center. "You brought me here just so you could beat me, didn't you?"

"Of course not!" he said indignantly. "You're just the only adult I could ask."

"I feel so loved." Veronica watched as he made another perfect shot. "How in the world did you get so good at this?"

"Well, Marco and Luis didn't let me hang out with them normally, but they'd take me shooting with them. We're all pretty competitive, so we ending up doing it a lot just so we could try to outdo each other." Lance smiled at the memory. "They would always get so mad when they couldn't beat me."

"Huh," said Veronica. She took a shot and missed the target altogether. "I didn't know about that. I guess I missed out."

"But here we have laser guns!" Lance said, admiring his. "They're even more accurate, and way lighter too." He ran his hand along the gun.

"Careful, or you'll get stuck as a sniper instead of a pilot."

"Oh, I can do both," Lance said confidently.

* * *

After that, Veronica made a habit of meeting Lance at the shooting range every so often. It was nice just to be able to see him, and he really seemed to enjoy it. He'd made it up on the high scores board pretty quickly, to the chagrin of many of the adult officers.

One day, she realized he was being strangely quiet. Veronica looked up from her gun to see Lance staring moodily at the ground. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing," he said quickly, bringing his gun up to shoot.

"Are you trying to lie to me?" she asked, nudging him so that he missed.

"Hey! No, of course not." He looked at her, then his face fell. "Okay, yeah, I've got something on my mind."

"What?"

Lance sighed. "They made me a cargo pilot, okay? I wasn't good enough to make fighter class. I guess I failed one too many simulations or something."

Veronica put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, it's not like it's permanent. You'll get shuffled around a ton while you're a cadet. It happens."

He shrugged off her hand. "No, there's no way I'm going to make fighter class now. I'm not even close to being the best in my class." He ran a hand through his hair. "James and Keith are both some kind of prodigies. How am I supposed to compete with that?" He put his gun down and looked at her.

"Lance, it's not a competition. There's plenty of demand for pilots. Once you graduate, you'll have plenty of options, and it won't matter whether you were top in your class."

"Easy for you to say," he muttered. "You were top in everything, weren't you?"

Veronica noticed that there was a line forming behind them, so she pulled Lance out of the way. They returned their guns and walked out. Veronica turned so she could look at Lance while they walked. "You know, I may have been top of my class, but I've been fighting hard to get a promotion ever since I became an administrative assistant. It's not at all what I wanted when I was a cadet."

"You wanted to be a communications officer," he added softly.

She nodded. "I wanted to go on missions, not get stuck behind a desk. But here I am."

Lance stopped in his tracks. "Is it my fault?"

"No, of course not." She sighed. "I would have gotten stuck here even if you weren't here. And I'm glad that you are," she added quickly.

Lance cocked his head. "You're not making any sense."

"I know, I know. I guess what I'm trying to say is that what happens to you now doesn't determine your future. It's a lot more about what happens after you graduate."

Lance nodded slowly, then stuck his hands in his pockets. "I guess you're right." He smiled suddenly. "Hey, I'll make a bet with you. I bet you'll get promoted before I make fighter class. Loser has to buy the winner ice cream."

Veronica rolled her eyes. "That's not fair."

Lance stuck her tongue out at her. "Why? Because I can eat way more ice cream than you?"

She folded her arms. "Fine, it's a deal."

* * *

That night, Veronica got a call. She was being promoted to junior analyst. She'd get get a pay raise and a good chance at later promotions as well. It might even get her into space one day. She almost laughed when she heard, and as soon as she hung up, she texted Lance.

 _V: I owe you ice cream._

 _L: Haha, what?_

 _V: I'm getting promoted._

 _L: What?! That's awesome!_

 _V: Tell you what, since it worked for me, I bet that you'll make fighter class before you graduate. And I want a sundae, not just a regular old ice cream cone._

 _L: It's a deal._

* * *

It took almost three years, but Veronica eventually got her sundae. Lance was ecstatic, telling her all about his team members and how he was going to prove to everyone just how much he deserved to be a fighter pilot. When they said goodbye that night, he gave her a long hug. "Thanks," he said.

"For what?"

"Using a little sibling magic, I guess." He pulled back and smiled. "Seriously, I think our bets are magical. Want anything else?"

Veronica pursed her lips. "Okay. How about the first one to make it into space has to buy the other one a pizza?"

"You're on."

 **A/N: After this, I'll be getting into major Season 7 related stuff. But don't worry, I am planning on going back and doing some more pre-series Garrison one-shots after I get the later ones out of my head. If anyone has suggestions for something they might like to see in this series, I would love to hear it. I can't guarantee I'll write it (especially if it's romantic) but you might get lucky. Also, I'll make sure to credit anyone who gives me a suggestion that becomes a story.**


	3. Glimpses

In the years that Lance was missing, Veronica couldn't seem to escape her memories of him. At first, she'd dream about him coming back nearly every night. The Garrison hadn't said anything beyond the fact that he'd gone missing with two other cadets, Hunk and Pidge. Her clearance level didn't technically allow her to know any more than that, but she heard the rumors that the missing cadets had flown off in some sort of alien ship. She tried her hardest to find out anything else, but all she got was a blurry picture of a blue lion-shaped robot flying over the desert. During the day, she didn't let herself think about the possibilities, instead throwing herself into her work. So, her mind forced the possibilities on her through dreams.

In some of the dreams, Lance was just fine. He came back with his wide grin, just the same energetic happy teenager that he had been. But in other dreams he was forever changed, scarred by what had happened to him to the point that he was just a shadow of who he'd been before. And in the worst dreams, all they got was a body in a coffin. Veronica woke up from those crying. Her roomate got so worried about her that soon Veronica found herself transferred to the Garrison base in Florida, the closest one to her family.

Being close to her family seemed to help with the dreams, but going home was painful because of the huge hole Lance had left behind. Everyone seemed just a little more subdued without him there. And every time Veronica played with her niece and nephew, she couldn't help thinking about how much they looked and acted like Lance.

Still, she saw her family as much as her new position allowed. The glimpses of Lance that she got at home hurt, but at the same time they kept her from forgetting him.

On one of her days at home, her mom sat her down with a cup of coffee and asked her if she was okay. Veronica realized that she must have heard her crying after a particularly bad nightmare the night before. She felt uncomfortable. Normally, she was a pretty independent person, and she didn't talk about feelings with anyone but those closest to her. Lance had been one of those people. She hadn't had that kind of relationship with her mom in years.

Her mom looked a little exasperated when she didn't respond. "Hija, I know you and Lance are close. And we all miss him, but it's a little different for you."

Veronica nodded. She still didn't know what to say, so her mom went on. "You don't blame yourself, do you?"

She thought on that for a minute. "I don't think I even know enough about what happened to blame myself. That's what really gets me. I really have no idea why he's gone, and I can't wrap my mind around that."

Her mom gave her a little hug. "I don't know either, but I do know one thing."

"What?"

"Our Lance is a capable young man, and he'll do whatever he can to find his way back here. You just need to remember that, and have a little faith in your baby brother."

Veronica swallowed. She was right. Somehow, her mother's words calmed her mind enough that she was able to stop dreaming about Lance and focus back on her work. It didn't make the sadness go away, but it helped her stop grieving and start hoping instead.

Veronica had just begun to feel settled again at her new post when something happened to uproot her again. She was at home, enjoying a Sunday afternoon with her family, when Luis came running into the kitchen, shouting about something on the TV.

They all piled in front of the TV to see Sam and Colleen Holt explaining about the alien threat faced by earth. Veronica felt something clench inside her. How had she not known about this? How could the Garrison keep a secret like this from everyone, even their own staff?

And then Lance's face popped up on the screen. The whole family froze. Veronica heard someone, maybe several someones, start crying when he said that he loved them and he missed them. The transmission ended soon after, and Veronica stood up shakily from the couch.

"I'm going to get some answers," she announced firmly to everyone. "And I'm going to bring Lance home." Then she left, getting on the next available flight to the central Garrison base. She didn't care anymore about her orders. She was going to find out the whole truth about what had happened to her brother. If she was court-martialed, so be it.

* * *

The Garrison was in a bit of a panic when she arrived. When she arrived, no one would give her a straight answer about the video that she'd seen. But eventually, she was led to a man who she recognized from the video. He was sitting with his wife outside the Admiral's office, looking exhausted.

"Commander Holt?" she asked when she recognized him.

He looked up at her and frowned. "Yes?"

She saluted. "I'm Officer Veronica McClain. I believe you know my brother, Lance?"

Commander Holt instantly relaxed, giving her a smile. "Yes, I do. I didn't realize that Lance had a sister at the Garrison. I suppose you must have questions."

Veronica nodded. "I need to know what happened to him."

The commander exchanged a glance with his wife, who nudged him. He stood. "I can help you. But first, you should see the rest of the video that Lance sent for his family."

"There's more?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yes. I only included small clips of the paladins' videos, enough to show that they really are out there. I believe Lance's video is quite long, actually."

Veronica smiled, a giddy feeling rising in her chest. She almost couldn't believe that she'd be hearing an actual message from her brother. Commander Holt led her to a small room that she recognized as a disused classroom. He pulled a small device out of his pocket and plugged it in. The large screen in front of the room flickered to life. "I'll give you some privacy," he said, stepping out and closing the door behind him.

Lance came up on the screen, saying the same words as earlier. But where the other video had cut off, he paused and bit his lip. Veronica recognized his face as the one he made when he was trying really, really hard not to cry. Her own eyes welled up in sympathy.

The Lance on the screen took a deep breath. "I don't really have time to say everything I want to say. I guess I just want to let each one of you know that I really do miss you." A tear escaped down his cheek. "Mom, I want you to know that I miss your hugs every single day." He went on to tell each one of their family members something he missed about them. Veronica's breath caught when he said her name. "Veronica, I miss talking to you. You're the best listener I've ever met, and I've met a ton of people out here in space." He smiled and went on, but Veronica didn't really pay attention. She was outright sobbing now, letting all the pent up emotions she'd felt over the years out at once.

Once he'd gone through everyone, Lance sighed. "It may not seem like it, but I really am going to come back as soon as I can. They need me out here right now, but they won't forever. I promise, I will come home." He sniffed, then dissolved into tears. "I g-gotta go now. I love you." He reached out a hand and the video ended.

Veronica sat there, stunned and trying to catch her breath after sobbing so hard. Lance really was alive, and she now believed that he really would come home. After what the Holts had said, she knew that she'd have to make sure that the Earth was a safe place for him to come back to. She took her glasses off and wiped the tears off her face. Then, she left the room and found Commander Holt waiting for her.

"How can I help?" she asked.

He looked surprised. "Help?"

"You're trying to find a way to defend Earth against these Galra people, right?" He nodded. "Then I want to do what I can to help."

He smiled. "I can see you and Lance really are siblings. Let me show you what we've been working on."

Within a week, Veronica was transferred back to the central base, where she became an analyst for Commander Holt's team. She threw herself into the work, more motivated than she'd ever been before. Her brother was already fighting in this war. One day soon, she'd be fighting right alongside him.


	4. Reunion

**A/N:** **This is a little fragmented, just because I didn't want to rehash too much of the canon plot. I mentioned this earlier, but major season 7 spoilers! Although this probably wouldn't make much sense without watching season 7 anyway.**

They say near-death experiences are supposed to change a person. Veronica didn't feel changed at the moment, just alone and in a lot of pain. When the train had left without her, she'd assumed that the Galra would just kill her, but they'd run off when the whole area was buried in rubble. Probably smart of them, since Veronica was now trapped under the rubble and not much of a threat anymore.

She shifted a little, trying to ease the pressure on her leg where she'd been hit by a Galra blaster. So this is what it felt like to be in the field. Somehow, she'd pictured something a little more glamorous. At least the MFE pilots had all made it out. She smiled a little at that. They were a good team, and she knew they would be indispensable in the coming battles. Especially if Voltron didn't show up anytime soon.

Veronica's smile faded. She wasn't going to get to see that future if she didn't make it out of here.

* * *

After a few hours, Veronica could feel her body weakening due to the pain in her leg. She must be losing blood. In her mind, she rehearsed what she'd say if she had her family here to say goodbye. She'd give everyone a hug, except maybe Lance. She'd probably have to punch him on the arm or something, and then give him a hug.

It would have been so nice if she could have just seen him one last time. At least she could see the man he'd become. But, she reasoned with herself, maybe it was better to think of him as the carefree boy she'd known. After all these years in space, he would be a soldier now.

That made her sad. She liked thinking about Lance as a hero, but not as a soldier. She'd never wanted to picture her baby brother that way. But since he'd joined the Garrison, it had become inevitable.

Something shifted above her, and Veronica winced, thinking the rubble above her must be about to collapse. But then she heard voices. Someone had come for her.

* * *

After being rescued by a team from a nearby resistance group, Veronica realized that her family might still be out there. Using a mix of rumor and stories from other survivors, she was able to track them down within a few days.

Seeing them again felt like a miracle. Veronica vowed to herself to keep them nearby as much as she could. The world might be falling apart, but she had been given her family back and she was not going to let them slip away again.

They were given a living space in a makeshift refugee camp that the Garrison had put together in an empty hangar. Even though it was dirty and crowded, Veronica decided to move in with her family and give up her officer quarters. Her job didn't give her much time to spend with her family during the day, so she snuck time with them in between eating and sleeping. It helped keep her sane through all of the stress that seized the Garrison as everyone waited for the Galra to make their final move.

Veronica watched as Commander Holt sent out a final message to Voltron. She monitored it and confirmed that it was still broadcasting. With that, she said a silent prayer that this message might be the one to make it.

It was days before they received a reply, but when they did, the effect on the entire crew was instantaneous. Veronica listened, astonished, as Katie Holt spoke with her father. When she heard the voices of the other paladins, she strained to hear one that was familiar. She nearly lost track of what the paladins where saying when she recognized Lance's voice among the jumble. He didn't say much, but she knew it was him.

As the paladins hurtled towards Earth, Commander Holt gave the order for the MFE pilots to go help them make it past the Galra. Veronica felt numb as she kept her eyes trained on the screen, where a little blip marked the paladins' progress. It hardly seemed real, but the evidence was right in front of her.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked up to see the commander smiling at her. "I know how you feel. You should go find your family. Let's prepare a welcome that the paladins won't forget."

* * *

As Veronica waited with her family outside the main building of the Garrison, she didn't feel like an officer anymore. She felt like a little kid waiting for Christmas. Her niece and nephew were bouncing around in anticipation, and she wanted to join them. Her mom grabbed her hand and squeezed.

A cloud of dust in the distance announced the approaching rover. Everyone in the group stood up a little straighter and held their breaths, even the Holt's dog. Then the rover stopped, and a short-haired girl in green armor jumped out, straight into the arms of her mother. Veronica looked past her and saw Lance. He was wearing blue armor and his hair was a little shaggier than she remembered it, but his face was just the same.

Lance looked lost for a moment as he looked at the crowd, but then their eyes met. His whole face lit up, and before she knew it, Veronica found herself in a huge group hug as the whole family jumped on Lance. She grabbed onto his arm, the one part of him that she could reach, and just savored the moment. He was here, right here, and she couldn't remember ever being this happy.

Lance didn't speak much as they headed back to the Garrison. He seemed to be doing the same thing as Veronica, just enjoying the moment. Their mom insisted that they all head back to their quarters so that they could catch up.

Lance scratched the back of his head. "Mom, you know I'd love to, but we're supposed to have some big meeting with the admiral pretty soon."

Veronica put a hand on his shoulder. "The admiral will just have to wait for a little bit. I'll say you had to go change."

Lance looked a little confused. "You work for the admiral?"

She winked at him. "I haven't been sitting around doing nothing while you've been gone, hermanito. You go with everybody else. I'll see you at the meeting." She watched him go reluctantly. As the rest of the family herded him away, he turned to look back and shot her a smile.

Veronica smiled and waved. They'd have plenty of time to catch up later.

* * *

After briefing the paladins, Veronica was given the rest of the day off. She and Lance walked back to the refugee camp, taking their time.

He broke the silence first. "So, you're kind of a big shot here, aren't you?"

She raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"

He shrugged. "You get to go to all the important meetings, and you seem to know what you're talking about." He smiled at her. "Not that I'm surprised or anything."

"This is coming from the guy who pilots a robot lion that can help save the universe," Veronica said. "I think I'm the one that should be surprised."

Lance's smile fell a little bit. "I really am sorry, you know. I would have said goodbye if I could, but I didn't really even realize what I was doing at the time."

She shook her head. " It's not your fault." They walked in silence for a little bit before Lance spoke up again.

"Hey, don't you owe me a pizza?"

Veronica laughed. "You really remembered that?"

Lance rubbed his stomach. "I've been living on a diet of space goo for like a year. I couldn't forget pizza if I tried."

Veronica punched his arm gently. "Fine. I'll get you a pizza if you promise to never, ever disappear like that again."

He rubbed his arm with a smile."I sure wasn't planning on it."

"And I want a ride in your lion when you get it back."

"Add in some of Mom's garlic knots, and it's a deal."

Veronica reached up and ruffled his hair. This just felt so natural. It was like he'd never even left. "Deal."


	5. Nostalgia

**A/N: These next couple chapters are both super short, but they just didn't fit together well enough to make a single chapter. The good news is, you get some Lance POV!**

Lance stared up at the far away hangar ceiling while he listened to the noises his family made, rustling around in their shared living space. He was on a borrowed cot, pretending to sleep off some killer space jet lag. But his mind wouldn't let him relax.

He was finally back here with his family, but it felt selfish to enjoy it so much when there were so many others, like Hunk, who hadn't been so lucky. The peaceful Earth he'd left behind was pretty much gone now, thanks to Sendak. Lance made a fist in his blanket. That jerk. There really were no limits to what he would do, were there? He'd destroy a whole planet, probably a whole solar system, just to get Voltron.

Lance heard his mother start to sing while she finished cleaning up the kitchen. The soft words pulled up countless memories from his childhood. When he was really little, he liked to hide in the kitchen cupboards and wait for his mom to find him. She must have known where he was all along, since he always hid in the exact same place. But she'd play along, singing and doing her work until she just happened to open the cupboard and Lance would pop out with a grin and a hug.

Lance sniffled and dug a little deeper into his blankets. He was with his family again. No need to cry anymore. He took a few deep breaths and tried to focus on the present instead of the deep ache in his chest that made him want to go back to being a little kid in Cuba.

Soft footsteps came from the kitchen area and towards him. Lance didn't know who it was, so he wiped his face and pretended to be asleep. His mom was worried enough about him as it was. She'd freak out if she realized that he wasn't sleeping. Well, she already had, hence why he was taking a nap in the middle of the day.

He heard someone come in through the improvised blanket door and stop just by his cot. Then a second person entered. "Mom, I thought you were going to let him sleep," Veronica whispered accusingly.

"I can't help it," his mom whispered back. "I just had to check on him."

Veronica paused for a moment. "I know."

Lance tried not to flinch as his mother ran a gentle hand through his hair. He almost wanted to be indignant that she was treating him like a little kid, but it did feel nice.

"I can't believe he still looks so young," his mom said.

"It's only been about a year for him, you know. Technically, he's not even eighteen yet."

The hand in his hair stopped for a second. "But he still has to fight. Both of you are going back out to fight those monsters."

Veronica sighed. "We have to."

"I know. You're heroes to everyone else. But to me, you'll always be my babies."

"We're going to be okay, Mom. Really."

"That won't stop me worrying."

Lance wanted to give his mom a hug right then, but her hand in his hair was really making it hard to stay awake. The last thing he felt before falling asleep was a gentle kiss on his forehead.


	6. Crash

If Lance was being totally honest, he didn't like Veronica going on missions with him. It wasn't because she was a girl or anything, it was just that he didn't want to have to choose between completing a mission or losing his sister. If he was worried about protecting Veronica, he might accidentally get someone else hurt.

But he also knew that they worked well together, and some part of him loved having her along, if only so he could show her how awesome he'd become. That part of him, he labeled "the little brother". The protective side he labeled "the hero". He reasoned that he'd just have to tell both of them to shut up, because Veronica was going to do what she wanted, no matter what he told her.

Their first mission together worked out pretty well, so when she was assigned to take him to blow up the Zaiforge cannon, he didn't complain. It wasn't until they were dodging Galra blasts that he realized just how terrible of an idea this was. First of all, there was no way he was going to be able to summon Red when he was worrying about both him and his sister getting blown up. Second of all, Veronica really needed to work on her driving skills.

Lance almost told her as much, but then he spotted a blast coming right towards him. "Veronica, look out!" he screamed. The next thing he knew, he was on the ground with the whole right side of his body screaming in pain. It even hurt to breathe.

He stood up shakily, trying to clear his head and figure out what was going on. Then he remembered that Veronica had been in the crash too. And she wasn't wearing armor.

"Veronica!" Lance cried out, looking frantically. He spotted their crashed rover and a uniformed figure on the ground next to it. His breath caught and he felt his stomach drop. "Veronica!" She wasn't moving.

He ran over and gently lifted her up. "Veronica?" Her eyes opened, and he almost started crying in relief.

"Lance," she said weakly.

"Veronica. You're okay." He made a promise to himself never, ever get mad at his sister again.

Lance heard a whooshing noise and whipped out his shield and his bayard, pointing it and shooting at the oncoming Galra ship. The pain in his side made his reaction a little slow, but it wouldn't have helped anyway. Lance barely had time to close his eyes, fully expecting the ship to plow into him at any moment. His only thought was that Veronica might just be able to get out of the way in time.

A powerful feeling of protectiveness rose in the back of his mind, and Lance felt more than saw Red as the lion came to land right on the Galra ship. He smiled and lost his balance, falling backwards, feeling Veronica catch him.

"That was too close," he breathed. He looked over to see Veronica staring open-mouthed at the Red Lion.

"It's huge!" she said.

"Yeah," Lance agreed, too out of breath to say much else. You'd think by now he would be used to almost dying. But nope. It was still really, really terrifying.

"You all right?" she asked.

Lance let out a choked laugh. "Mostly. Are you?"

"I'm alive." She rubbed her arm. "I don't think anything's broken, at least."

Lance stood up, wincing. He didn't think he'd broken anything, but his side did still hurt. "Let's go." He led the way into the Red Lion. "We've got a job to do."

* * *

After they realized that destroying the cannons wasn't going to work, Lance sent Red back to the Garrison to drop Veronica off before he went back into the battle. They didn't have much time to talk, so Veronica just gave him a quick hug before hopping out.

"Good luck, hermanito."

"You too." He bit his lip as he flew away. He was a paladin of Voltron, and he would cry later when they weren't all about to die.

 **A/N: If you don't like these short ones, don't worry. The next one's turning into a bit of a monster.**


	7. Aftermath

**A/N: I apologize for any medical inaccuracies. Most of my medical knowledge comes from Google, TV, or fanfiction, so take it with a grain of salt.**

Everything was happening so fast that Veronica could barely keep up. One minute they'd finally defeated Zarkon, the next Voltron was battling against some new robot from space. Then the Atlas decided to grow legs and join in the fight. When the robot was finally down for good, Veronica was able to take a breath. All the crewmembers around her did the same thing, including Shiro. Today was without a doubt the craziest day any of them had experienced.

Then they saw that the lions had picked up the robot and were flying it away from the Earth. Veronica was confused. What were they doing? She checked communications and saw that they'd lost contact with the paladins.

She didn't know what was going on, but all she could do was watch. The lions made it out of the atmosphere, and then there was the bright flash of an explosion. Veronica felt her heart skip a beat and frantically searched the sky, looking for any of the lions. She saw a bright flash as one of them plummeted down, leaving a plume of smoke behind.

"No," she said. She looked frantically back at Shiro, who was watching with clenched teeth and a pale face. "We have to go get them."

He looked at her and nodded. Commander Holt stepped up and put his hand on Shiro's shoulder. "I'll organize the teams."

"Sir, let me go get Lance," Veronica said. No way was she going to wait here any longer. "I'll take a rover."

The commander held up a hand. "I know how you feel, but we're not even sure where any of the lions went down."

Veronica pointed to the plumes of smoke rising in the distance. "We'll just follow the smoke."

She noticed on her screen that the Garrison was trying to hail them, and she ran over and let the communication through.

"Sir, we have visual on three of the lions. Black and Red crashed right by us, and Green went down in the forest."

Veronica looked at Shiro, then Commander Holt. He nodded. "All right. Shiro, you lead a team to get Black. Veronica can get Red, I'll get Green, and Coran can go find Blue." He picked another crew member to lead the team to get Yellow, and they all headed to the vehicle hangars to get rovers. Veronica contacted the medical team and asked them to send five medics, one for each paladin. She didn't want to think about it, but they would very likely be needed. Even the lions of Voltron weren't indestructible, and their paladins were even less so.

She didn't have time to fret about Lance, so instead she focused on what she was doing. As soon as she and a medic arrived at the hangars, she took off in the nearest rover. Shiro took the one next to hers, and they drove next to each other until they reached the Garrison and split up. Veronica listened to the exact directions from the Garrison, and soon they reached the Red Lion.

It wasn't in good shape. It was sparking and smoking, clearly severely damaged. Veronica jumped out of the rover with the medic following close behind. "Lance!" she called out. She wasn't really expecting an answer, but she had to hope.

As they approached, the lion creakily opened up a hatch. Veronica crawled inside, trying to avoid debris and sparking wires. When she reached the cockpit, she saw that it was severely tilted and Lance was lying sprawled facedown on the ground.

She crawled over to him and took his helmet off. He didn't respond, so she shakily reached down to his neck to take his pulse. Veronica breathed a sigh of relief when she felt one.

"Don't move him just yet," warned the medic. Veronica stepped back to let him work. He carefully removed Lance's outer armor and checked for spinal injuries first. Then he carefully rolled Lance onto his side. Veronica saw him frown, then lean down near Lance's head and place a hand on his chest.

"What is it?" Veronica said, clenching her fists against her side.

"He's having a hard time breathing." The medic reached into his bag and pulled out a stethoscope and a clip that he stuck on Lance's finger. He listened to Lance's lungs and looked up at Veronica. "We need to get him back to base now. Help me grab a stretcher and oxygen from the rover."

Veronica cooperated, acknowledging that it was better to help Lance now and get answers later. When they got Lance into the Rover, the medic stayed with him in the back while she drove. "Can you tell me what's wrong?" she yelled back.

"There's fluid in his lungs," the medic responded. "If we were farther away, I'd have to operate on him now, but we're close enough that it's safer to just get him to a doctor."

"So he's suffocating?"

"Not exactly. The fluid is just preventing him from getting full breaths. He's getting some oxygen, but not enough."

Veronica risked a look back. "Is he going to be alright?"

The medic shrugged. "Too early to tell."

Veronica realized then that the medic probably didn't know that Lance was her brother. She wondered if he'd be so honest if he did know. She turned back to the road and guided them around to the medical entrance.

One of the other rovers was already there. She saw Shiro standing by as the medical team removed Keith on a stretcher. Veronica parked and jumped out. Shiro looked over, a pained look on his face.

Before they could say anything, Lance's medic stuck his head out and yelled, "I need some help over here! I have a possible hemothorax, and he's going into shock."

Shiro went even paler than he already was. "Lance?" he asked. Veronica nodded, feeling suddenly very exhausted. She stood out of the way next to Shiro as a doctor and a couple of nurses rushed out to help get Lance inside.

"How's Keith?" she asked, trying not to think about how Lance looked with his face covered by an oxygen mask.

Shiro sighed. "The medic thinks his collarbone is broken and he has some kind of head injury. He wouldn't tell me any specifics."

Veronica saw that another rover was approaching. "We'd better get out of the way." She got back in and drove the rover back to the hangar. She felt shaky and a little numb. When she left the rover, she had to stop for a moment and brace herself against the nearest wall because her legs were shaking too bad.

"Are you all right?" Shiro asked, coming to put a hand on her elbow.

She looked over at him and let out a semi-hysterical laugh. "You're the one covered in bruises."

"You are, too," he pointed out.

Veronica looked down at herself, remembering that she'd been in a crash of her own not too long ago. "Right." She ran a hand over her face, wincing as she felt a bruise on her cheek.

"Let's get back to the infirmary. We probably both need to get checked out ourselves, and then we can find out how all the paladins are doing," Shiro said gently.

"Okay," Veronica said. She stood up straight and let Shiro guide her, noticing as he did that he was walking with a limp. "I guess we all took a beating today," she said.

"You can say that again. But we're alive." He looked as exhausted as she felt.

"Yes. We've got that, at least." They fell silent until they reached the infirmary, where they were told to wait until a doctor had time to see them. They were taken to a waiting room, where the Holts, Coran, and a large man and woman who had to be Hunk's parents were waiting. Veronica panicked for a moment when she didn't see her own parents there. She turned to the nurse escorting them. "Excuse me, but has anyone let Lance's parents know?"

"Let me check." The nurse pulled out a tablet and typed something in. "No, they haven't been notified yet."

"I'll tell them, then," Veronica said, trying not to think about how much her mom was going to freak out.

Shiro patted her on the arm, and then went to sit next to Commander Holt. Veronica stayed standing as she pulled out her phone and dialed her mom's number.

"Mom?"

"Veronica! Please, tell me you know what's going on. No one will tell us anything."

Veronica rubbed at the bridge of her nose, trying to think of a way to say this. "Mom, all the lions crashed. Lance is alive, but he's hurt."

Her mom gasped. "Oh, my goodness." She let out a little sob.

Veronica felt herself starting to tear up, but she knew she had to hold it together at least until the end of the call. "He's in the infirmary now. Someone should be able to help you find it."

Her mom took a deep breath. "Thank you, mija. We'll get there as soon as we can."

She said goodbye and hung up the phone, then collapsed into a chair and put her head in her hands. Everything was finally catching up to her. She let herself cry for just a few moments, then reminded herself that everyone in this room was going through something similar. Veronica looked up and saw all the other somber faces. It didn't make her feel better, exactly, but at least she wasn't alone in this.

Her parents arrived about half an hour later, and they had a quick hug. Veronica winced as she felt her mom squeeze extra hard.

Her mom pulled away looked at her in concern. "Are you hurt, too, mija?"

Veronica shook her head. "No, just a little banged up."

Just then a nurse opened the door and poked her head in. "Are Veronica McClain and Takashi Shirogane in here?"

"Yes," Shiro answered.

"Come with me, and the doctor will check you over."

"It's just to be safe," Veronica said quickly when she saw her mom's eyes widen. "I'll be right back."

She and Shiro followed the nurse, who directed them to two seperate rooms and told them to wait for the doctor. Veronica hoped that the doctor would know something about Lance.

She had to wait for a while, but she couldn't feel too mad about it. She was glad that they were giving priority to those who were badly injured.

The doctor arrived and gave her a quick exam. "Nothing's broken, but you do have a mild concussion." She gave her a sheet of paper detailing the medicine and precautions she needed to take.

"Thank you," Veronica said. The doctor nodded and started to leave, but Veronica held up a hand. "Sorry, but do you know anything about my brother, Lance?"

The doctor have her a strained smile. "Sorry, I've been very busy. But I'm sure if you go back to the waiting room, you'll hear something soon."

Veronica nodded. That's more or less what she'd expected to hear. She walked back to the waiting room. Everyone tensed when she entered. Her mom stood up and gave her another hug.

"No problems?" she asked.

Veronica shook her head. "Nothing serious, just a mild concussion." Her mom fussed about that for a little bit, but eventually calmed down.

Shiro came back several minutes later and sat next to her. "All right?" he asked.

"Yeah. You?" Apparently, they were both too tired for complete sentences.

"Nothing serious. No news?"

Veronica shook her head. "Nothing yet." She was starting to really feel a headache now. It had probably been there all along, but she hadn't had any time to pay attention to it.

The first doctor came a little while later, asking for the Holts. He tried to pull them out of the room, but Commander Holt told him to go ahead.

"Katie's going to be all right," he said. "She has a broken arm and still hasn't regained consciousness, but otherwise everything is normal." He looked around the room. "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you about any of the other paladins just yet."

"Can we go see our daughter?" Commander Holt asked.

"Yes, but only relatives for now." The Holts left, leaving a somewhat better atmosphere behind them. It was good to know that at least one of the paladins was mostly okay.

Keith's doctor was next, asking for Shiro. The medic had been right. Keith had a broken collar bone and a bad concussion, and like Pidge, had yet to regain consciousness. Soon after that, they found out that Hunk also had a bad concussion. The doctors found some mild bleeding in his brain, but they were able to fix it quickly and didn't think there would be any complications. Hunk's doctor also mentioned that he'd seen Allura, who didn't have any serious injuries but appeared to be in a state of severe exhaustion.

That left Veronica and her parents alone in the waiting room, since the others had all gone to see their respective child/friend. Veronica was glad that the others had gotten their answers, but it made her more and more worried about why they hadn't heard anything about Lance yet.

It was another hour or so before another doctor came. They had been falling asleep, but everyone sat up straight when the door open.

"You're the McClains?" the doctor asked. They all nodded. "Well, I'm glad to say that, barring complications, Lance is going to be alright. He had several broken ribs, and one of them punctured his lung. We were able to put in a chest tube, however, before it became too serious. He also started going into shock before he reached the hospital, but we were able to treat that as well. Other than that, he just has a mild concussion. Would you like to see him now?"

"Is he still unconscious, like the others?" Veronica asked.

The doctor nodded. He led them out of the waiting room and through the infirmary to Lance's room, where he left them alone. Veronica went over and took one of Lance's hands. He was shirtless, with bandages around his chest and a tube sticking out. They'd replaced his oxygen mask with a nasal cannula, and Veronica could hear the hissing of the oxygen tank. Her parents came in close, her mom grabbing Lance's free hand and her dad putting a hand on his shoulder.

"It could have been a lot worse," Veronica said, trying to convince herself. "Really. The lion must have protected him somehow."

Her mom kissed Lance's forehead. "You're right. He's still with us, and that's what matters."

* * *

That night, Veronica and her parents all slept in Lance's room. Veronica was glad, because she didn't think she'd have been able to sleep anywhere else. Every so often, a nurse would come in to check on Lance, and Veronica found it comforting even if it woke her up every time. She couldn't help but feel that something worse might happen after coming close to losing him so many times.

The next morning, Shiro came to visit. He knocked on the door, and Veronica looked up from her tablet, which she'd been using to keep track of how repairs on the Atlas were going. She'd been given leave for the next few days, but she was still curious, especially since she had plenty of time on her hands with Lance still unconscious.

"Hey, Shiro," she said. They were alone for the moment, since her parents had gone to freshen up and grab some food.

"How is he?" Shiro came in to stand by Lance's bed. Veronica gave him all the details, and Shiro looked somber.

"How are the others?"

"No one's woken up yet. The doctors are a little worried, but Coran thinks it's just because of their bond with the lions."

"What do you mean?" Veronica asked. She didn't really understand how the whole lion-bonding thing worked, although Lance had assured her that it was really awesome.

"Well, the lions and the paladins are connected in a way that we don't fully understand. Coran thinks that because the lions are all offline, trying to repair themselves, the paladins are kind of doing the same thing." Shiro scratched the back of his head. "Honestly, I don't really get it either."

"Oh." Veronica looked down at Lance. "So when Red wakes up, Lance will too?"

"Maybe. Hopefully."

Veronica saw her parents coming in and she gave them a wave. Shiro stayed for a little bit, sharing some stories about the things Lance had done as part of Voltron. Veronica listened with a wistful smile. It just would have been nice to hear the stories from Lance's perspective.

Shiro paused for a moment, then said, "I'm not sure if Lance knows this, but he really is an indispensable part of the team. Sometimes he gets written off as a goofball, but he's done a lot more than anyone could have ever expected of him."

Right now all Veronica could think was that being part of Voltron was the reason Lance was in a hospital bed. But she knew Shiro meant well. "Good," she said. "I'm glad he has a team that appreciates him."

Shiro nodded. "You know, you're kind of part of my team now, too."

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I've been officially appointed as commander of the Atlas. I hope you don't mind, but I already requested you as my communications officer."

Veronica's mouth dropped open. "Seriously?"

He smiled. "Of course. You're one of the Garrison's top analysts, and you've definitely proven that you can handle extreme situations."

Veronica looked back at her parents, who were beaming at her. "I would love that." She looked down at Lance and thought about how he was going to flip out when he heard the news. Now he just needed to wake up.

* * *

Soon after that, Veronica decided to go check on Red. Maybe it was ridiculous, but she felt like if the lion and her brother were connected, seeing Red might help her better understand what was going on with Lance. She left her parents with Lance and went to the crash site. Red hadn't been moved simply because they were afraid of further damaging it.

The eyes were still dark, but at least the lion was no longer smoking. A few stray sparks still lingered here and there, but they actually appeared to be repairing the lion. Veronica watched, fascinated, as some exposed wires twisted themselves back together.

She walked slowly up to the lion's face and placed a hand on its nose. It was cold and metallic, but somehow didn't feel inanimate. A shiver ran down her spine as she felt a presence hovering in front of her. It was like Red was examining her.

"Hello, Red," she said hesitantly. "I'm Lance's sister. I came to check on you." She felt the presence respond through a slight warming of the metal under her hand, so she continued talking. "Lance was hurt pretty bad, but he's going to be okay. We're just waiting for him to wake up now." She looked around a little self-consciously, hoping no one would walk by and see her talking to a robot lion. The metal under her hand heated up suddenly, causing her to gasp and pull her hand away. "That wasn't necessary," Veronica said, inspecting her hand for blisters.

She could have sworn she felt Red's presence laughing at her. She looked up to see the eyes flicker to life. The lion creaked slowly into a sitting position.

"Thank you," she told it before running off. She hoped that the lion's waking up meant that Lance would, too.

She ran into Shiro just as she entered the infirmary. "Shiro!" she said, panting slightly. "Red is awake."

He smiled. "Really?" They both looked up as a ground trembling roar shook the whole building. Everyone else looked frightened, but Shiro looked relieved. "That's Black."

Veronica smiled. "Good." She left and walked quickly to Lance's room, where her parents were sitting in the same positions she'd left them in. "Any change?" she asked.

Her mom shook her head. Veronica went over and took Lance's hand. "Hey, hermanito. Time to wake up. Your lion's back, so no excuses."

She felt the hand tense slightly and saw that Lance's eyes were slightly open. He smirked at her. "So bossy," he said hoarsely.

Their mom burst into tears. Veronica felt her own smile widen. "Whatever it takes."

 **A/N: I'm debating adding a Part 2 to this. Let me know if you want more hurt/comfort stuff. I love it personally, so it's easy to go overboard.**


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